Canis Pagurus
by Vague-Seriousness
Summary: A Wolf Children inspired AU about Karkat raising werewolves.
1. Chapter 1

It was the morning Harley was gone.

Karkat was soaked as he raced down the street. Shielding his two children from the heavy rain, he struggled to take them back to their apartment. It was only a couple blocks away. A couple blocks, and yet Jade didn't make it. They were barely outside the same vicinity, yet Karkat couldn't save her.

He tried not to, but he couldn't help but look back. The area cleaners were already closing the back of the truck, still laughing at Karkat's recent fit. Karkat clenched his fist, but then he remembered the children, and forced himself to keep going.

He only found out about Jade's death minutes ago, but he already wanted the memory out of his mind. Brown river water dripping from the furry, white coat. The wide, clouded green eyes that had once been shining days ago, and never will again. To the people, it was just an oddly colored wolf that drowned in the river, but Karkat knew otherwise. Jade was dead.

Fur brushed under his hands. Karkat snapped out of it to see his son and daughter half-transformed into little wolf pups. "Jesus Christ," he hissed. Shielding the children closer to his chest, he made a run for it across the crosswalk.

A couple of buildings and a hallway away, he finally made it to the apartment door, ignoring the glances of the passerby on the way there. Running as fast as you can, covering up two furry beings in your arms, and looking like you've obviously just been crying was a super shitty combination if you wanted to avoid attention. He fumbled for the key, his franticness either slowing him down or making the whole process feel slow.

"Daddy, I wanna go home," his two-year-old daughter, Marie, whimpered at his feet.

"We are, now be quiet for a second," he said. He moved his other child, Henri, to his other arm as he shakily unlocked the door. It popped open. "Hurry up before you're seen." He hustled his daughter in before closing the door behind him. He frantically locked it as soon as it closed, then turned on the light.

At first, the apartment's appearance made everything feel as if the day hadn't happened. Jade's presence still lingered, in the lime green furniture and the kids' squiddle dolls and the little pots of flowers on the window sill. But as soon as it came, it left, and suddenly the familiarity of the place didn't feel so pleasant anymore.

A lump caught in Karkat's throat again. He grabbed the edge of the counter, balled his other hand into a fist and clenched his teeth, as if that was going to control the shaking he was feeling. Marie and Henri watched him curiously, Marie's red-colored wolf ears perked up atop her head. He couldn't cry in front of them. He couldn't scream; he couldn't lose it like he did when he saw Jade's body. He couldn't do any of that, not now, not around his children. He'd already done that.

"Daddy?" Karkat's eyes shifted to Marie. Her head was cocked, and her innocent eyes tinted with a concern he wasn't ready to see. "Where's Mommy?" She didn't understand. She still thought she couldn't be separated from her parents like that.

Karkat couldn't. Unwanted tears swam in his vision. His legs felt like jelly, his throat painfully constricted. He bit his lip to the point that any more pressure would probably draw blood.

"Daddy?" Marie's words sounded tearful this time. _Stop. Just stop._ "Where Mommy?"

Karkat lost it. "She's gone!" he shrieked, tears streaming down his face. He collapsed to his knees and bawled into his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** This happens several hours before the first chapter.

* * *

Jade wanted to hunt.

She thought that as she awoke, her recent bout of narcolepsy fading into restlessness. She tried to remember what happened before- returning home from college, and probably falling asleep after that. Karkat probably carried her back here in the bedroom, and now it was past midnight. The clock shone brightly in the dark room, but she wasn't at all surprised by the time. Her sleeping habits were never consistent.

Two little pups stirred next to her. Jade smiled and scratched their fur. She missed them today. "Oh hello, little ones," she murmured, not loud enough to wake them up but still talked to them anyway. "I'll be back in just a little and get to be with you all day tomorrow." She stood up as gently as she could and crept into the living room.

A faint lamp light poured beside the sofa and onto Karkat, who was lying across the couch holding a fairly thick book in his hands. He looked pretty engrossed in it, allowing Jade to sneak behind him and rest her chin on his messy auburn hair. "Hi, Karkat."

Karkat winced as his attention was snapped from the book. His face was adorably grumpy as he turned around to look at her, then his eyes softened a little as he saw her. "I swear it was going to take you a hundred years to wake up. I bet you're restless."

"Yeah. I think I'm going to go out for a bit," Jade said. "Can you watch the kids?"

Karkat heaved a sigh and reverted back to the book. "Alright," he said. "Come back before the sun's out."

Jade rolled her eyes. "You know I always do," she said. "I'm just going hunting. Do you want a bird?"

"I don't know what else you could eat in this place, and I'd eat a hobo's body grime before I eat some disease-ridden rodent. So yeah, sure, bring a bird back." He didn't look from his book as he said it.

Jade giggled. Karkat was always so silly. "Okay. I'll get a nice fat one just for you." She stopped at the door. "And try to sleep a little, okay? It's not good for you to be up that long."

A huff sounded from the couch. "Just because your sleeping habits are the opposite of mine doesn't mean it's just as bad. But I will when I'm done with this chapter, so don't nag me about it."

"Karkat…" she groaned softly, shaking her head. At least Karkat said he'd sleep, so she decided it'd be best not to have a petty argument this time. Besides, night was the perfect time to hunt in the city, and arguing would waste such a great opportunity. "I'll be back in a little bit," she said. Karkat mumbled a "see you" as she left out the door.

Once outside the apartment, she was greeted by the loud pitter patters of the heavy rain. She snuck into a secluded spot near the building and changed out of her clothes, white fur growing out from what should've been revealed skin. The clothes dropped to the ground, which was kicked into a corner by none other than a white wolf. Jade lifted her nose in the air and took a whiff. Her lack of glasses hindered her vision, but her nose took an advantage to this as it was much stronger now. Soon a bird caught her scent, and she took off in the pouring rain. It didn't take Jade long to reach the end of the scent trail- at a little bridge just a couple blocks away. It appeared she'll be returning home early tonight, with a fresh kill to go with it.

xXx

"Jade?" Karkat shot up from the couch. He could've sworn he heard someone walking by, but when he opened his eyes he was only met with the sight of the children in the living room. It was six o'clock in the morning. Karkat scowled. "Hey, Marie, did Mom come home?"

"No," the little girl said, sitting on the floor with her brother, Henri. "Where's Mommy?"

Karkat rolled his eyes at her question and stood up. He peaked into the bedroom only to see empty blankets and scattered toys.

"How about we go on a walk and find her?" he asked. "Let's make sure something stupid didn't happen to her."

xXx

It was still midnight, and the water was freezing. Jade clawed her way at the surface of the water, but it kept pulling her back in. The rain had made it stronger than usual. She tried to grab onto something dry, but all she could manage to touch was the slick river wall, which she couldn't even climb. The water jerked her away, and soon she was under the surface, feeling herself go quiet and numb.

A figure stood over the bridge, holding the bird she had caught.

* * *

By the way, the figure at the end isn't an OC. There are no OCs besides the children. I felt like mentioning that.


End file.
